VOL. 54 ISSUE 28 JULY 18, 2017 P65
Randy Hawakins took his AmPro
Yamaha team back to basics for 2017.
His success with team racers Josh Toth
and Ricky Russell indicate that his
grassroots formula still works
I
t's always been a pas-
sion for me to help de-
velop younger riders
to become champions," said
Randy Hawkins. Never short
on words, Randy Hawkins of
Travelers Rest, South Caro-
lina, was happy to talk about
the history of his AmPro Ya-
maha team, a factory-backed
off-road program he started
in 2004 at the end of his
own lucrative racing career.
"Over the years, we've been
able to do that with guys like
Paul Whibley, Charlie Mullins,
Thad Duvall—just what I call
grassroots, really working
with up-and-coming riders.
I'm really proud to say that
we brought some of these
guys their first championship.
They've won multiple cham-
pionships in other programs,
but we were able to give them
their first."
Hawkins' AmPro Yamaha
team is a fixture in pit row of
the Grand National Cross
Country (GNCC) Series,
where he, himself, spent
much of his own prominent
racing career. With a focus
on passion, hard work and
growth as much as on win-
ning, his race team has a
healthy track record of churn-
ing out some of America's
best off-road racers. But the
Southerner admits that in
recent years, his program
started drifting away from
what he considers his own
core values. About a year
ago, he decided it was time to
change up the program and
get back to what he knows
works: focus on cultivating
the young and hungry, and
ultimately get his team's mojo
back.
His decision led Hawkins
to sign two fresh faces in
the GNCC pro ranks: Ricky
Russell (XC1) and Josh
Toth (XC2). The reboot also
brought back a familiar face
in Paul Whibley, the New
Zealander making his return
to the U.S. racing scene as
the official trainer—and part-
time XC3 (125cc) racer—for
AmPro Yamaha. The results
thus far speak for themselves,
with Toth on a winning tear
in the XC2 division, even
getting on the overall podium
at Snowshoe, and Russell
showing consistent results
and steady improvement in
his sophomore year in the
premier class. Russell even
got his first taste of victory
in 2017, taking the big win
at Snowshoe to share the
overall podium with his XC2
teammate, Toth.
Randy
Hawkins is just
successful
running a race
team as he
was a racer.
BY JEAN TURNER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMPRO YAMAHA
GRASSROOTS
FACTORY
